Explore the Golden Lion’s history, from its 1400s origins to near demolition and ghostly tales in Romford.
Roger Reede’s will mentioned the pub. He called it Romford’s best building. It was west of Market Place. Library records say it has features from the 1600s onward.
The Golden Lion almost got demolished and many pubs faced this threat. In 1956, it was part of a purchase order and the plan was to widen High Street. They needed to tear down buildings.
The Romford Recorder wrote about its possible loss in January 1966. They talked about a new pub in High Street, which would be part of a shop and office project. Woolworths considered taking over the site.
The pub avoided demolition because of a ring road plan. The Golden Lion became a listed building in 1979.
Greene King owns it now, and they say it is a haunted spot. People reported seeing ghosts there 23 times. One ghost is the White Lady, who had her wedding at the pub and died in Harold Hill in the 1980s.